Here are some heat-activated silk-screen prints. Both the paint and cloth are heat-sensitive but the paint changes color at a much higher (~125°F) temperature. The print includes a stylized Arizona state flag with the words “Dry Heat” knocked out of the graphic.

People’s hands were imaged using a Seek Thermal camera on iPad. Hands were held out flat, palm up, against a flat surface. The intended population to research would be a random control population compared to a population of health “energy” practitioners such as meditation, qigong/chi-kung, reiki and other practices.

The assignment was supposed to be done using Arduino but the Seek Thermal camera’s capabilities really shine in this application. By providing a high and low temperature, hands can be evaluated for location of hot spots, actual temperature and temperature in relation to surroundings.

10.Hands

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Some data:

average maximum: 92.6° F

median maximum: 93° F

average minimum: 78° F (mostly background)

highest hand temp: 96° F

lowest hand temp: 87° F

The chart below shows the high and low temperatures of the dataset. No particular relationship becomes apparent.

This is the full dataset. The main conclusion is the area around the base of the thumb, the proximal-center palm and thumb root, are the most common centers of heat in the hand. One participant’s wrist was the warmest area. Cold drinks and jewelry effect temperature.

Cereus hildmannianus is one of several similar species of organ pipe cactus that found in South America, California and Arizona. These medium-sized cacti are nearly spineless and bloom selectively for only a few nights a year. The flowers unfold from a pod and bloom one evening, then shrivel into a fruit the next day. Used as a natural sensor they could guide desert farmers in planting crops such as corn, squash and beans for a spring harvest or for planting melons at the spring equinox. Analog methods of detection could include planting as hedges (it can grow prolifically) and using the Mk. 1 eyeball for approximating the equinox. This could have worked for Hohokam farmers without access to astronomer-priests. A digital system might use a low-resolution camera and use a prior distribution or frame referencing image processing technique to trigger scripted remote events.

While it’s cousin species only flower synchronously one night a year, it flowers over several nights. It has less fragrant blossoms and they shrink into a dragonfruit-like fruit. These cacti seem to display a biological light switch using a technique known as photomorphogenesis that is triggered by the plant’s photochrome system.

According to Devlin, Christie & Terry (2007) “timing of flowering in many species is governed by light. In this case, duration of light is the important factor. Lengthening days (or more strictly shortening nights) signal the approach of spring while shortening days (lengthening nights) signal the approach of winter. This regulation of flowering by light is mediated through interaction with an internal 24 h timekeeper known as the circadian clock to ensure that the flowering process is receptive to light during the evening.” This is dramatically expressed in C. hildmannianus.